A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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108 A SUMERIAN PALACE AND "A" CEMETERY, KISH The sun-dried bricks used in the palace were of two sizes, of which the earUer ones, measuring 23 x 15 x 3-5.50 cm, were used to build the original north-west portion of the palace. Those of the second size, averaging 20.50 x 13.50 x 4-6.50 cm, were used in the annex to the south and also those parts of the northern portion of the palace where repairs or alterations were made during or after the building of the annex. There is practically no difference in the quality of the two sizes of brick. They varied but little from the standard lengths and breadths, but there was considerable variation in thickness, the smaller-sized brick generally being much thicker than the larger one. In the time of Hammurabi and in later periods, a layer of reed matting or loose reeds was often placed at certain levels in a mud-brick wall. This was not observed in the palace. Though traces of matting were frequently found on the floors of the rooms, it was proved in every case that these came from the roof which had collapsed into the chamber, not from the walls. None of the bricks found in the palace can be regarded as primitive. They were well made and shaped and altogether they were a creditable production, considering the fact that they were made by hand in a mould and in enormous quantities. The fact that the Sumerian also devised bricks for certain purposes is proved by the use of rhomboidal bricks to build the columns of the colonnade and of the large pillared hall. Bricks of this latter shape were made in special moulds. BAKED BRICKS None of the baked bricks found in the palace was used for building walls. Their use was entirely confined to paving rooms and passages, and possibly en- casing the mud-brick columns. Baked bricks are considerably flatter than sun- dried bricks, for in the latter the extra thickness is needed to make them strong enough to be handled without breaking. For this reason not a single baked brick has been found with the upper surface as convex as in the unbaked kind, except where sun-dried bricks have been accidentally burned in the firing of a building. The latter can be readily identified by the poorness of their baking as compared with the bricks which have been properly baked in a kiln. The sizes of the burnt bricks in various parts of the palace are as follows: Chambers Centimetres 6
THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," KISH 109 size were used, and in the great pillared hall as many as five different sizes of bricks occurred in the paving. The fact that comparatively few of the chambers bore actual traces of having been paved with brick may perhaps be put down to the activities of brick-robbers. Indeed, where fragments of the pavement still remain, the missing bricks must have been taken from them for other purposes in early times. Comparatively few of the bricks were marked with the thumb or by any other means. This is curious, because in another large building that was excavated ("P") the great majority of the bricks were thumb-marked. In the palace, thumb-marked bricks were found only in chambers 18 and 30 and in the pillared hall, the sizes of the bricks so marked being 24 x 14 x 4-5 cm and 24 x 15 x 4-5 centimetres. The thumb-marks were all in the middle of the brick and in the direction of its longer axis. Several paving bricks of the pillared hall, which measure 24.50 X 16.50 X 4.50-6.50 cm, had a shallow mark longitudinally down the middle, made with a stick or with the finger. Similar bricks, which have been picked up on the slopes of Ingharra, may have been removed from this hall in early times. '^ The object of thus marking bricks—a common practice in early times— ^has been much discussed. The general opinion is that these marks were for frogging purposes so that the mortar, whether bitumen or mud, might adhere the more readily to the brick. The difficulty in this theory, which to my mind is insuperable, is that the thumb-mark is not always in the centre of the brick; it is sometimes in the comer where it would not be of very much use. Also the markings are in many cases so shallow that they would be useless for frogging. I am in- clined to think that these thumb-marks are in reality brickmakers' marks intended to distinguish the products of one brickmaker from another. A similar system of marking is very common in the Near East at the present day to prevent any person from claiming bricks that do not belong to him, when they are delivered at the building where they are to be used. Some of the plano-convex bricks at Kish—but not from the palace—bear two thumb-marks for identification, and there is no doubt that other markings of this nature will be found when more of Kish has been excavated. At Bismya, Banks found plano-convex bricks marked in many different ways, usually with a stick, as in the case of the bricks above mentioned, which were found in the pillared hall. He attributed these markings to the several restorers of the building in which the bricks were found, suggesting that each ruler who restored a building used an especially marked brick to demarcate his work from that of his predecessors. The markings which Banks found were also, in the majority of cases, too shallow to be of use for frogging. This evidence, together with that supplied by Kish, proves, I think, that the marks found on plano-convex bricks are the private marks by which the brickmaker identified his wares. The baked bricks foimd in chambers 6, 14, and 19 seem to have been especially made for paving, as they are extremely flat and their size (27 x 17 x 5-6 cm) is most unusual. They are exceedingly hard baked, well made, and laid veiy carefully.
Page 2: LIBRARY >A. \^ Class\\ 4^
Page 10 and 11: PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AME
Page 12 and 13: 68 CONTENTS Lipped Flat-based Potte
Page 14 and 15: LIST OF PLATES XXL Plan of Palace "
Page 17 and 18: PREFACE This volume contains the fi
Page 19 and 20: A SUMERIAN PALACE AND THE ''A" CEME
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTION 77 Only three burials
Page 23 and 24: TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMM
Page 29 and 30: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 49 and 50: — THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A
Page 51: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 73 and 74: THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
Page 83 and 84: POTTERY This chapter deals with the
Page 101 and 102: TOOLS AND WEAPONS A considerable nu
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THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
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PERSONAL ORNAMENTS MEDALLIONS Plate
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STONE VESSELS Plates XXXVIII, No. 1
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NOTES 215 " A very similar dish to
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. AN
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Field museum of natural history. AN
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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